A fast-growing data-access center rides the wiring wave of the
future.

Surf's up on the West Coast, and this time El Nino is not the
cause. Simple Network Communications Inc., San Diego, Calif., created a
highspeed wave by providing the region's best-connected Internet
access center with gigabit technology for its customers' Web
travel. Accentric, the company's Internet access division, offers
round-the-clock, business-critical Internet services to businesses due
to its recently installed gigabit-ready cabling infrastructure.

As the wave of gigabit technology has not even crested, many
businesses want to be on top so that their wiring infrastructure will
not have to be replaced and updated later. "Accentric is the first
server hosting company in the area to take the plunge into gigabit
technology," says Dan Peters, vice president of operations for
Pacific ComTel, Escondido, Calif., installers for the cabling.

"San Diego is becoming `Silicon Valley South' largely due
to the `Maquilladoras,' which are major OEM manufacturers that have
situated plants on the border of Mexico. These companies need Internet
access," says Peters. Accentric's co-location and hosting
services allow companies to lease space to place their server(s) on the
Accentric Internet backbone. Accentric also offers T-1 and DS-3 WAN
access to the Internet for companies that need high-speed access
directly from their offices. Due to this capability, no modems or
dial-ups are required. T-1 lines allow 1.544 Mbps of throughput, and
DS-3 lines access the 'Net at 45 Mbps speeds.

INSIDE/OUT INFRASTRUCTURE

Accentric's backbone infrastructure was designed on a concept
called "inside/ out networking." Instead of accessing the
Internet from one outside provider accessing its networks' points
of presence (POP) and private peering, Accentric has brought the
Internet backbones inside. "This way we can control the routing of
traffic," says Robert Bingham, president and CEO of Simple Network.
"This ultimately means that we can push data out faster, more
effectively, and more reliably than many other providers. Accentric has
contracted with several high-bandwidth national Internet service
providers (ISPs) such as Sprint, UUnet, GTE, Verio, and GoodNet.
"For each provider we have a full 45 Mbps connection, which means
we have 225 Mbps of outbound capacity," says Mark Hopperton, vice
president for Accentric. "As the need and capacity requirements
grow, we will add more capacity by either adding another connection
(ISP) to the 'Net or making the existing connections bigger, the
next step being 155 Mbps."

To gain access to the upstream ISPs, Accentric required multiple
Carrier Access Providers (CAPs) to bring connectivity into the access
center. The carriers use fiber on full SONET-protected rings to support
OC-3, OC-12, and eventually OC-48 data capacities. [With SONET, more
than one fiber line (ring) creates redundancy and a back-up system for
any outages from fiber cuts or other disconnectivity problems. When one
fiber goes down, the system automatically diverts traffic to the other
fiber.] "We need to take redundancy to its ultimate, so we have
multiple CAPs (MFS, ICG, TCG, and Windstar) supplying the physical
connections to the ISPs," says Mark Hopperton. Two of the fiber
rings will actually run through the building on divergent paths, so
there will be true SONET protection for the backbone. "Windstar is
supplying a microwave link to its San Diego POP, so our bandwidth
travels through the air and through the ground, which is about as
redundant as you can get," says Mark Hopperton.

"We chose fiber for the backbone to allow for unlimited
bandwidth expandability. For the internal horizontal cabling we went
with an enhanced-frequency Category 5 solution. This allows us to take
advantage of the high data speeds such as Fast Ethernet and Gigabit
Ethernet, as well as ATM speeds of 155 or 622 Mbps and beyond,"
says Frank Hopperton, access center manager. "Without gigabit-ready
wiring inside our access center, the full capabilities of the emerging
high-speed, high-bandwidth networking protocols would be
inaccessible."

A total of 150 racks will be located in the Accentric access center
in the heart of the 22-story Home Savings Tower, a high-rise office
complex in downtown San Diego. The access center provides the "real
estate" and environmental infrastructure for a dedicated server
product and co-location space that anyone can lease. The wiring
infrastructure is designed to service as many servers or connections to
the Internet as can be installed in 150 racks. The bandwidth potential
is virtually unlimited. "The limit really is the physical space not
the network," says Frank Hopperton.

GIGABIT SOLUTION

"When Accentric asked for a gigabit-speed system for future
Web-hosting requirements, only one supplier came to
mind--Ortronics," says Dan Peters. "Not only is Ortronics the
first manufacturer to offer total gigabit solutions, it was also chosen
for product availability, support, and warranty through Graybar."

"Ortronics is the only supplier to make us truly cyber ready
for our accelerating server hosting and connectivity business,"
says Allen Cocumelli, COO and general counsel for Simple Network.
Ortronics, Pawcatuck, Conn., a global leader in flexible network
solutions for structured cabling systems, together with Graybar, a
full-service, full-stocking distributor, provided Accentric with
enhanced-frequency Category 5 cabling products for a gigabit-ready
system.

While Accentric was installing this inside/out network, the main
headquarters of Simple Network, which houses Accentric and other
subsidiaries, was installing its in-house networking system in tandem
with the access center build out. Located on the 13th floor in the Home
Savings Tower, one-third of the space is dedicated to the data-access
center infrastructure and network operations center. Simple Network
selected an Ortronics end-to-end CAT 5 system. The cabling included
60,000 feet of CAT 5 from CommScope with 120 drops. "They (Simple
Network) wanted to do it right the first time. In doing so, they put in
more product than what they needed today but will have enough for later
expansion," says Eric Seelig, Ortronics regional manager, Redondo
Beach, Calif.

Ortronics CAT 5 TracJack outlets, and horizontal CAT 5 cabling was
installed for voice and data to the desk. Universal wiring was chosen
for the networking scheme. "With universal wiring, it doesn't
matter what I am transporting because I've got connectivity for any
CAT 5 protocol in our walls," says Mark Hopperton. "Right now
we are running 10Base-T, 100Base-T, as well as phones."

The network operations center at Simple Network Communications and
Accentric is protected by a state-of-the-art Inergen fire suppression
system. To rid the room of fire, the system releases a mixture of
compressed gases that replaces the oxygen in the room until the fire
cannot burn.

For the internal office environment at the ICC (Intermediate
Cross-Connect) are Ortronics CAT 5 patch panels and finger duct cable
management panels. "Color-coded icons at the workstation correspond
to each port in the patch panel at the ICC," says Mark Keyes,
project manager, Pacific ComTel.

MISSION CRITICAL

"We built this center to get as close to six 9's
(99.999999%) up time," says Mark Hopperton. To protect its
investment and its customers' investment, the network operations
center at Simple Network and Accentric is manned 24 hours a day, seven
days a week, with SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) and ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol) monitoring of the backbone,
customers' equipment, and WAN connections. The area is protected by
60 tons of redundant air conditioning and a state-of-the-art Inergen
fire suppression system. This system results in an oxygen content so low
that fire cannot burn and equipment is not harmed. A redundant power
system includes three 50 KVA Uninterrupted Power Supplies (UPS) and a
450-kilowatt generator. "The generator supports the 800 amps of 480
volts that are coming into the access center main feed and can run for
over 60 hours before refueling," says Frank Hopperton. "We
have a lot at stake, and I had to methodically design the
power/equipment room and access center to the inch to make sure that
there is a backup for everything that could go wrong," he says.
"After all, with 150 racks filled with many Web-hosting machines,
we are certain that we will be handling more than the current one
percent of all Internet traffic. We have to be prepared for the next
wave."

Franchini is director of corporate communications and public
relations and Everett is a freelance writer/editor for Ortronics,
Pawcatuck, Conn.

Circle 261 for more information from Ortronics, Inc.

COPYRIGHT 1999 Nelson Publishing
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